On the way to Battle God Palace, Meng Chao knew that Lei Zongchao would definitely ask this question.
Over the past month or so, he and Lu Siya had already answered the related departments countless times about the truth behind the Vortex's death and Jin Wanhao's death.
And Lei Zongchao definitely had the highest authority to read his and Lu Siya's investigation reports.
But no matter what, Jin Wanhao was Lei Zongchao's best friend who had gone through thick and thin with him decades ago.
Jin Wanhao's younger sister was also Lei Zongchao's lover when he was young.
Lei Zongchao had never married and never had any scandals between them. That alone was enough to tell just how much they loved each other in the past.
If Jin Qianxi had not fallen into Red Dragon River during the battle to destroy Blood Alliance and disappeared without a trace, Lei Zongchao's fate would have been unknown.
Lei Zongchao might have become Jin Wanhao's brother-in-law.
He would definitely not be satisfied with the investigation reports. He wanted to personally hear Meng Chao tell him Jin Wanhao's last words.
Aside from the unbelievable matter of him regaining his youth, Meng Chao did not intend to hide anything else.
One, he did not think that he could hide anything from the legendary martial arts legend.
Besides, he agreed with a part of A 'Ji's thoughts. To a certain extent, the moment Jin Wanhao regained his youth, Underground Emperor Jin Wanhao had truly died.
Even if A 'Ji still had ambitions that did not lose to the Underground Emperor, he was not the Jin Wanhao of the past, but a brand new personality.
It was impossible for A 'Ji to walk down Jin Wanhao's path.
After all, it was a path that would definitely lead to failure.
Hence, Meng Chao remained calm and told Lei Zongchao everything aside from A 'Ji.
He especially told him about Jin Qianxi's figure that had popped out of the bubbles on the corpse.
This figure was related to the true face of the monster civilization's mastermind.
In fact, it might be the person who had died with Lei Zongchao in his previous life.
This was an important matter, so Meng Chao did not hide any details.
Lei Zongchao listened to him with a dazed expression.
When he heard the dying Jin Wanhao talk about how he was imprisoned by Blood Alliance and had to risk his life in the ancient ruins as well as being tortured in the lab, his facial muscles twitched. It was as if he was once again immersed in pain that made him wish he was dead.
When he heard that he, Jin Wanhao, and Jin Qianxi had worked together to get out of Blood Alliance, a heroic look appeared on his face.
When he heard that Jin Qianxi had fallen into Red Dragon River, grief that was as thick as ink rose in the depths of Lei Zongchao's eyes. He looked as if he had been burned to ashes.
When he heard his good brother, Jin Wanhao, angrily call him a spineless idiot because their ideals didn't agree, and when the two of them went their separate ways, he sighed, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down. He wanted to defend himself, yet he didn't know who he should explain to.
Once Lei Zongchao finished listening to Meng Chao, he closed his eyes, as if he was immersed in his shattered past that was covered in dust for a long time. Then, he opened his eyes again and said with a bitter smile, "Jin Wanhao chose the easiest way to die. I'm not as lucky as him. I didn't die in such a grand manner with the monster. I'm afraid that slowly crumbling in this gene concentrate will be my end."
Meng Chao did not know how to answer her.
He could only cough dryly and forcefully change the topic. "Mr. Lei, before our gang leader died, he asked me to tell you that his sister died decades ago. Regardless of what the information that popped up from the bubbles of the abnormal beast's carcass represents, it's not his sister, your lover, or the Jin Qianxi of the past!"
"I know. Don't worry, I know."
Lei Zongchao was dazed again. A hint of sweetness and grief appeared on his face. He sighed and said, "I'm not so old that I can't tell the difference between reality and fantasy, and I won't be fooled by such a clumsy illusion.
"Jin Qianxi is already dead, but when she rushed into the Red Dragon River, her corpse might have been obtained by some abnormal beast with great skills. Perhaps this abnormal beast has read the information in her cerebral cortex and can turn into her to deceive others, just like the abnormal beast you met, the Vortex.
"Don't worry, I won't fall for it.
"But I still have to thank you, young friend Meng.
"First, I have to thank you for fighting alongside my old friend Jin Wanhao and sending him off on his final journey. Second, I have to thank you for reminding me of the trap the monster civilization might have set up. If I hadn't noticed it beforehand, perhaps one day, an abnormal beast with Jin Qianxi's face would have appeared, and I would have been at a loss.
"Let me think. How should I thank you? I heard that you've recently invested in some projects and contracted a few barren lands in the depths of Monster Mountain Range to cultivate a few strange etherealized plants?"
Lei Zongchao asked casually, seeming to be indifferent.
One of the reasons Meng Chao came to Battle God Palace was to thank Lei Zongchao for helping him and the Broken Star Club.
The other reason was because he wanted to get a bigger investment.
For this, he asked Xie Xiaofeng to write a few proposals for him and practiced them repeatedly at home. His speeches were very touching.
But against his expectations, right when he cleared his throat and started his long speech, Lei Zongchao waved his hand.
"I'm already old, and I can't keep up with you youngsters' thoughts. I don't have the ability to evaluate whether your projects are good or bad and whether they have any investment value. But there's one thing I'm really curious about."
Lei Zongchao looked at Meng Chao with great interest. "Over the past month, you've looked for a lot of investors and partners. By the looks of it, you don't want to monopolize these projects, but you seem to be really against the nine great mega corporations investing money into your projects. You don't seem to like working with them. Why is that?"
Meng Chao was a little stunned.
"Um … I don't think so."
He thought about it and said, "Lu Siya and I are the best partners. This is something everyone in Dragon City knows. Superstar's acquisition of Prosperous and Spirit Creation Creatures as well as the recent projects have also received great support from Sky Pillar Corporation. How could you say that I'm against working with the nine great mega corporations?"
"No. You and Lu Siya are personal friends. You went through life and death together under Raging Waves, so you should have formed a very close friendship. That's why she's willing to help you with her personal status," Lei Zongchao said with an intense gaze.
"Most of the money invested into Superstar comes from Lu Siya herself. At most, it comes from her father's company, Sky Pillar Minerals. Very few of them come from the other companies under Sky Pillar Corporation.
"It's the same for the other eight mega corporations aside from Sky Pillar Corporation.
"It's not that you're completely against working with the mega corporations. Right now, it's impossible for Dragon City to find a place that isn't touched by the mega corporations in the business world. Regardless of whether it's the harvesting of monster materials or the reconstruction of the lair, you have to let the mega corporations have a share of the profits and maintain a superficial relationship with them.
"But I feel that you're not taking the initiative to work with the mega corporations.
"There are plenty of times when you'd rather go through the trouble of working with the mega corporations through your relationship with the Broken Star Club and Blue Home than work hard to promote your projects to the mega corporations.
"You should know very well that with your status as the youngest Heaven Realm superhuman in Dragon City and the youngest blood medal bearer in Dragon City, as long as you show some kindness and loyalty to the mega corporations, even if you sell a pile of sh * t, the mega corporations will be willing to invest in you.
"You don't like the mega corporations, do you?"
Lei Zongchao's gaze swiftly turned sharp.
Meng Chao felt as if his heart had been instantly seen through by the lax old man.
He could not tell him that Dragon City had charged toward the apocalypse under the control of the mega corporations in his previous life.
He could only say, "Mr. Lei, you know that I'm good friends with the old gang leader, and he didn't like the mega corporations. He always felt that he was suppressed by the nine mega corporations in the lair for decades and had no freedom. On the surface, he was the mighty Underground Emperor, but in truth, he was just a pitiful person who had no choice.
"In truth, before he died, he was still brooding over it. He hated that you didn't work together with him to fight against the nine gangs, the antecedents of the mega corporations. Otherwise, Golden Tooth would have been the one ruling Dragon City, and you and he would have been able to spread your will and get rid of the evils of the mega corporations."
Lei Zongchao's expression did not change. He smiled wanly and said, "Do you think that what he said made sense?"
Meng Chao thought about it for a while before he shook his head and said honestly, "I don't know. The world is too complicated. A small change today might cause a ruckus tomorrow, and the butterfly effect will keep stacking up, resulting in changes that are as big as an avalanche. It's not something that can be determined with just the definition of good and evil.
"Perhaps you did a good deed with good intentions today, and you thought it was right, but it caused a disaster tomorrow. Perhaps you used a lot of effort to kill a heinous criminal today, but because of his death, an even more terrifying demon will be born tomorrow. Perhaps you solved a problem today, but ten more problems that are even more difficult to solve will appear tomorrow.
"So, even though Gang Leader Jin entrusted all of Golden Tooth to me, I really don't know whether things would have been better or worse if you had worked together in the past and Golden Tooth had replaced the nine great mega corporations to rule over Dragon City.
"I only know that while the current Dragon City is advancing boldly, there are plenty of problems.
"The Deity Realm superhumans and billionaires who control the nine mega corporations have their strength, authority, and wealth increasing nonstop.
"But the lives of some of the citizens at the bottom of society haven't changed much.
"There are more and more rich people, and they're gradually monopolizing all sorts of industries. The path for the children of normal people to rise in power is getting narrower, and the cost of cultivation is increasing day by day.
"The strong are getting stronger, and they have outstanding technology and fierce weapons. Their absolute strength makes the army useless, and the only thing that can keep them in check is the morals in their hearts.
"Even a lot of public infrastructure like water, electricity, spirit energy pipes, internet platforms, and even the most valuable land are controlled by the mega corporations. Over the past month or so, Dragon City's armed forces have chased after the enemy and chased away the monsters while they were at it. They built hundreds of colonization bases at the perimeter of Dragon City, and quite a number of them, along with the land around them, belong to the mega corporations.
"I haven't sorted out my thoughts yet. It's just my instincts that this isn't right."
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